BADD (thing)

Bothered About Dungeons and Dragons

A group started (and pretty much only consisting of) Patricia Pulling. She started the group after her son, Irving "Bink" Pulling, commited suicide in AD 1982 June. She became convinced that his death had been triggered by his involvement with Dungeons and Dragons and that the spells and such like described in the books were REAL.

She convinced many people (including Tipper Gore) and groups who didn’t know much about roleplaying games that they induced players to commit suicide and murder. Among other things she petitioned the Consumer Product Safety Commission to place warning labels on RPGs. (They turned her down.) Due to her activity many people America there have a somewhat negative view of roleplaying, especially Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians.

When Mrs. Pulling died in AD 1997 her group went with her and so did almost the last of the hysteria over roleplaying.